Best game ever?

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Regrettable_incident@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩

Yeah pacman and pong were seminal but so was elite on the BBC, and Populous which I think was on the spectrum. Also unreal tournament, silent hill, vice city, homeworld, doom 2016, beam ng, I enjoyed em all but I can’t decide. Ppl here have done much more gaming than me, I’m wondering what you all think is the best game ever. Age, platform, genre, bla bla - what’s best ever?

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WILSOOON@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Portal and portal 2 those are the best ever, a story line everyone can get behind, likable characters. Good game loop. They are just masterclasses.

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- Flagstaff@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Portal 2 was way better than Portal, which felt like mostly a really extended tech demo or proof-of-concept. Portal 2 felt like an actual, full, fleshed-out game.
  
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Deestan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Been gaming since 1984 or some such.

By number of hours played: Factorio

By number of hours I can monologue about a game at you: also Factorio

By how much I think it affected gaming industry and culture: Doom

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- Flagstaff@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  [Dev Turns Doom Into a Playable CAPTCHA Test - Game Rant](Dev Turns Doom Into a Playable CAPTCHA Test - Game Rant)
  
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baronvonj@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Either Witcher 3 or Baldurs Gate 3.

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icecreamtaco@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
FFXIV, but this doesn’t mean anything because it’s dependent on what genres you like.

Most historically significant? Mario 1, FF4, FF7, Minecraft, Dark Souls, etc.

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- Verito@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  That list is old school solid. I played every one of those except M64 and Counterstrike. Add a few like Adventure, Rogue, Civ 1&2, Populous, Wing Commander, Star Control 2, King’s Quest, Sim City, Katamari Damacy, and Deus Ex. Every one of those titles changed gaming in new ways.
  
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EarlGrey@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Ocarina of Time

Yeah I know. Cliche as fuck. But for those who weren’t around when It came out, it’s really hard to describe just how absurdly revolutionary OoT was. Between it and Mario 64 (another Top 5 game for me), you essentially had the foundations of 3D gaming that are still used today.

But besides that…it’s an amazing game that I’m still replaying nearly 30 years later. Ever single complaint I have about this game is a tiny issue that has been solved in other versions (like binding the Iron Boots to the C button).

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- Agent_Karyo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The last console I had was the Sega Mega Drive, so I don’t have much knowledge of console games, but are you sure Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time “essentially set the foundations of 3D gaming that are still used today?”.
  
  Quake 1, was released on June 1996. Quake II was released on December 1997.
  
  Ocarina of Time was released on November 1998, the same time as Half-Life.
  
  Sure Mario 64 was released in June 1996, same time as Quake 1, but Quake 1 also had multiplayer - a key milestone for 3D gaming.
  
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  - EarlGrey@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Not all 3D gaming obviously (I mean they aren’t First person shooters, like most of your examples), but effectively the Action, Adventure, Platforming, etc angle (which makes up a fairly massive chunk of games today).
    
    What I’m talking about is the fundamental gameplay of both. Online Multiplayer was revolutionary, but it wasn’t really a fundamental change to the gameplay itself (Like with Marathon introducing mouse control)
    
    It’s interesting that you mention Tomb Raider though because that’s a perfect comparison. It was a fairly indicative of the industry as a whole with its stiff controls, static cameras, and dodgy combat.
    
    Mario 64 brought a full range of movement and action to games. It was really the first 3D game where just moving was fun (which is why they started the game in a peaceful courtyard, they wanted you to just have a fuck about). It also brought the user controllable camera to games (It hasn’t aged well, but that camera system was amazing when it came out). Also, while it didn’t invent the Hub world (it had been used in 2D games) it pretty much set the standard for it.
    
    OoT built on Mario64 with two major bits of gameplay. Target lock-on (Then called “Z-Targeting”) and contextual buttons. Both of which are just so fundamental to games these days it just feels obvious. More relevant back then (but not now), it created the template for how you could faithfully transition a series from 2D to 3D while perfectly maintaining the feel of the 2D series.
    
    Now, neither of those things alone would justify it being in my Top 5. The fact that they’re both so aggressively fun and well made does that.
    
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- mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah, OoT feels dated by modern standards, but that’s largely because it set the standard for 3D games. Future games have built upon the mechanics, but OoT was what paved the way.
  
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Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Most awe inspiring: Morrowind

Most depth of interest: Final Fantasy

Most emotional impact: The Last of Us

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Panamalt@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
There is no such thing as a ‘Best Game Ever’, but it’s Mass Effect 2

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- Panamalt@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  To those downvoting, yall need to be calibrated
  
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- Hotzilla@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I would say that knights of the old republic was better
  
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  - Panamalt@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Honestly just missing the old days of rpg games now, KotOR was the shit
    
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- Vopyr@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Best in the series, imo, the only thing I don’t like is these paragon/renegade quicktime events.
  
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Agent_Karyo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Bad Rats.

On a more serious note, my personal best of all time would be SimCity 3000.

Soma, TF2, Fallout 2, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, Deus Ex, StarCraft: Brood War, Civ 5 would all be in the top 10 (in no particular order).

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oyo@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
As someone who is not big into platformers or souls-likes, Hollow Knight.

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Kaboom@reddthat.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Skyrim. Sure, no single part is particularly good, but the whole of it is greater than the sum of it’s part.

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KITA@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Dark Souls was the one that won that vote that happened a few years ago

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Aielman15@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The answer to that question depends on your tastes, your current situation (amount of free time, mood, etc…) and many more. There’s no such thing as the “best” when it comes to a subjective piece of media.

I can’t even decide on my favourite game, because what I like and what I want to play depends on the aforementioned factors. I may be interested in a strong narrative today, on puzzles tomorrow, and on a crazy platformer game next. Different games resonate with me differently depending on when I play them.

Games that really stayed with me are (in no particular order) Xenogears, Metal Gear Solid, CrossCode, Digimon World, Oddworld Abe’s Odyssey, Ace Combat 4-6, The Talos Principle, Ori and the Blind Forest, Threads of Fate, and I also spent a crazy amount of hours on Stronghold, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin and Medieval II Total War. There’s, like, at least half a dozen different genres in that list and all those games are very different from one another, but all had different qualities that resonated with me for one reason or the other.

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ascense@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Has to be Outer Wilds for me. I can’t think of any other game that would have left such an impact on me, in such a short amount of time.

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- sploosh@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I heard how great the Outer Wilds was, so when I saw The Outer Worlds on sale I thought “oh hey sure I’ll buy that for $15” and I was EXTREMELY confused at why people had said it was the best game you could only play once, because that game wasn’t even fun the first time. I later realized my mistake and got the real deal and oh my god I wish I could forget that game and play it again.
  
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whotookkarl@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If I go with unique experiences as a criteria just to mix it up a bit I have a few

Playing xwing with a flight stick is really fun and one of my first gaming experiences outside of nes and arcades. Just really fun fast paced fighter combat. A close second would be everspace or Chorus on a controller.

Playing one of the big multiplayer arcade cabinets like Simpsons or X-Men was the original couch co-op with whoever was at the arcade not playing pinball or pool.

Beating your first boss in a dark souls or elden ring game feels like a big accomplishment, sometimes even more than the later ones when you’re character gets more powerful.

Going from small groups with friends to raids in an MMORPG feels like starting a whole new game, EverQuest and wow were big ones for me.

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- Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  Playing one of the big multiplayer arcade cabinets like Simpsons or X-Men was the original couch co-op with whoever was at the arcade not playing pinball or pool.
  
  I bought the 4-Player co-op X-Men arcade cabinet from Arcade1up and it’s been a blast playing it all the way through with my son.
  
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  - whotookkarl@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    That sounds like an awesome experience, I have a friend with a mame cab in their basement that I would probably spend too much time on it if I had one. I went with the cheaper option for mame and arcade legacy using a raspberry pi running batocera, but for some games it’s just not the same without the arcade controls.
    
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SamuraiBeandog@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Multiplayer: Quake. Single Player: Half Life.

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Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Somewhere between Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress lies the perfect life simulation.

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- Flagstaff@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Maybe Odd Realm?
  
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Vopyr@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
VA-11 Hall-A. It’s one of the few games that really touched me and affected my emotions deeply. Also, this game ost is one of my favorites.

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- drasglaf@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’ve played it 3 or 4 times in the last few years since I bought it, I love it. I hope the sequel ends up happening one day.
  
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  - Vopyr@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I only recently remembered about the sequel, I thought it had been canceled, but it seems that the development is still going on.
    
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Coelacanth@feddit.nu ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m taking this topic to be less of “what’s the most important video game” (which we already had a long discussion post about recently re: the BAFTA award thing) and more of “what’s the best game to just sit down and play right now”. In which case, probably Portal 2? I can’t think of a much better candidate in terms of being a perfect execution of what it sets out to do with an appeal that can be compelling for absolutely everyone regardless of taste.

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recall519@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yakuza, especially the earlier in the series.

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- Regrettable_incident@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’ve not played any of the Yakuza games but they are definitely on my list.
  
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isyasad@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
For me it’s tied between Dark Souls (2011) and Universal Paperclips (2017)

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SexDwarf@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
That’s easy, Bloodborne.

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Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m not sure there can ever even be a “best game ever”, but in any case mine is Grand Theft Auto 3.

Picture the scene. You’ve got your shiny PlayStation 2. You’ve got a bunch of games, but honestly, a lot of it could have been done on the PS1 with worse graphics.

And this bad boy drops, and never stops surprising you with all the absolute chaos you can cause. Not much of a story to go on, but the sheer scale of it was amazing. A whole city of driving, slightly wonky shooting and even flying (a bit). It was a game that just felt like the hardware was designed specifically for that.

We were no longer just playing games. We were living in the future. And we’ve never gone back.

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- Regrettable_incident@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I felt much the same about vice city. Changed my understanding of what games could be.
  
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  - Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I’m going to contradict myself a little, because Vice City is the better game. It’s got an actual story, a great voice cast, helicopter gunships, and the finest soundtrack of any game ever made.
    
    But it was very much built on GTA3. The mind was already blown. It wasn’t going to happen again.
    
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- fishy@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  When it dropped my folks were on a trip and I was staying with my grandma. Rolled into circuit city to get a copy and then dick behind the counter told me I wasn’t old enough (12) to play the game. My grandma had my back though and told him off. Good times.
  
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nyctre@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
This again? Anyway, sure… Tetris or doom for importance. Not really the best. That goes to rdr2 for being one of the best selling games of all time while also being almost universally loved. Not my personal favourite game, but objectively speaking, the title should go to rdr2, I think

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Die4Ever@retrolemmy.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I think Deus Ex (2000). The gameplay is so open and full of possibilities, and the story is crazy but it works so well. It’s so replayable.

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MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Its been almost 6 years since I first finished dark souls 1, and I still think of its endings and themes.

The age of light and dark. Prolonging the current status quo, or give up and accept the new one. The idea that alone, the chosen undead is weak, but as you get help from others, you can get better/stronger.

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WaitThisIsntReddit@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Best game ever is… difficult if not impossible to qualify. I’m gonna go with Shadow of War near the top though. Nobody else will, but I really appreciate that game’s ability to keep generating new experiences for you. Perfected the arkham combat, beautiful ragdolls, endless endgame to keep experiencing new orcs.

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zugzwang@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’ll probably get flamed for this, but no game has kept my interest/attention or had been as important to me as Old School RuneScape.

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RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Tetris and it isn’t even a contest. Pretty much everyone can learn and enjoy Tetris.

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Jeffool@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Tetris in a walkway. Any format, really. It’s just great.

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JakobFel@retrolemmy.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Well, my personal favorite game of all time is TES 4: Oblivion. The reasons I love that game are numerous but if I were to try to argue for it as being objectively the best game ever…

I guess I could say that the combination of older RPG mechanics with streamlined modern gameplay, mixed with a immensely beautiful fantasy world, flawless soundtrack, epic world-shattering plot, two of the best expansions ever made (KOTN and SI), absurdly legendary guild quests all come together to make it a true work of art.

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- Vopyr@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I used to love TES4 too, but after playing Daggerfall and Morrowind, I started to look at Oblivion coldly. The old concept of Oblivion was great, but what was released… meh. But hey, quests in Oblivion are pretty good.
  
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  - JakobFel@retrolemmy.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I began with Morrowind and I’ve played every TES game (other than those obscure “Travels” games in the early 2000s) but Oblivion remains for me. That said, Daggerfall’s sheer scope in both gameplay and world size is incredible, and Morrowind’s perfect blend of sandbox freedom with an awesome plot definitely do make them candidates as well. I just personally love the entire series and Oblivion was the one that converted me from “fan” to “megafan” so that’s why I go for that one.
    
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